'Alice' still overseas champ

10:34 AM PDT 3/21/2010
by
Frank Segers
,
AP

Tim Burton's movie takes in $47.1 million during weekend

With no significant weekend competition on the foreign circuit, Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" cruised to its third consecutive No. 1 round overseas, rounding up $47.1 million from 6,786 screens in 49 territories.

Offshore take so far for director Tim Burton's re-imagining of the Lewis Carroll classic stands at $300 million, of which $216 million or 72% derives from the 3D venues playing the film. Worldwide, "Alice" has grossed $565.4 million to date.

With openings in France and China -- which boasts of the largest number of 3D screens (633) outside North America -- due this week, it's likely that "Alice" will continue to dominate the foreign circuit at least for another stanza. The film has 35% of the foreign market yet to play.

The weekend's No. 2 film was director Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island" starring Leonardo DiCaprio, which generated an estimated $15.1 million on the weekend from 2,915 screens 44 territories. Of those, the 39 handled by Paramount accounted for $12 million from 2,689 spots for a cume of $70.8 million.

Third on the weekend was 20th Century Fox's "Avatar," which registered $12.9 million from 3,432 screens in 68 territories in its 14th round on the overseas circuit, pushing its foreign cume to $1.936 billion. That's 56% more than the $1.242 billion generated by the previous foreign gross record holder "Titanic," also directed by James Cameron.

DreamWorks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon" opened at No. 4 via Paramount in Russia, Romania and the Ukraine for a take of $7.8 million from a 771 locales. The 3D animation about a Viking dragon hunter turned dragon owner drew a No. 1 opening gross in Russia of $7.2 million from 668 screens.

No. 5 was Sony's "The Bounty Hunter," director Andy Tennant's romantic husband-ex-wife comedy costarring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler, which opened at 1,143 screens in eight markets for an estimated $7.7 million on the weekend. A No. 3 U.K. bow grossed $3.2 million from 397 sites while a Russian bow generated $3 million from 456 situations.

Disney pointed out that "Alice in Wonderland's" weekend action was the third biggest ever for any title opening in the winter/spring release corridor (January-April), usually one of the more mild-mannered boxoffice periods of the calendar year.

The film is easily the largest-grossing Burton title outside North America, besting 2005's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which grossed $268 million over the course of its foreign run. After three weekends, "Alice" is also the 12th-biggest title Disney has ever released overseas.

Universal's "Green Zone," an Iraq War drama starring Matt Damon, opened at No. 5 in Germany ($987,281 million from 348 sites) and drew $7.3 million on the weekend overall from 2,120 situations in 24 markets. Early cume is $20.1 million with 36 territories yet to play.

Fox's "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" grossed $4.9 million on the weekend from 3,670 screens in 50 markets for a cume of $129.9 million. The adventure-fantasy opened March 14 in China and has taken in $2.9 million from the market thus far.

Sony opened "The Book of Eli" at 960 screens in 26 markets for an estimated $4.1 million. The Denzel Washington vehicle has grossed via Sony $12.2 million overseas so far (it is also being handled by other distributors). A No. 1 Brazil bow landed $1 million from 184 locations. “Eli’s” overall weekend take, according to Summit International, is $5 million for an offshore cume of $41.7 million from all distributors.

It's the biggest opening for a French-language title this year, and the fourth-biggest launch of any 2010 title in France.

Placing No. 2 in France in its second weekend was Gaumont's "La Rafle" (The Roundup), a historical drama about French police collaboration with the Nazis, which drew $5.4 million from 702 situations, off just 13% from its No. 1 opening weekend. Market cume stands at $13 million.